Much has changed in the Czech brewing world
since the end of communism. Brewery closures, new technology and foreign
takeovers have transformed the industry. Not all of these changes have been
for the better.

This page attempts to describe the current structure of the Czech brewing
industry, its beer styles and how they developed.

That
was then
In 1988 many Czech breweries were almost unchanged from the 1930's. While
productivity may have been low, there was no argument about the quality
of the beers brewed. Open fermenters, long lagering times and absence of
pasteurisation produced distinctive and flavoursome beers. No other country
came even vaguely close to the general high standard of Czech lager. It
was impossible to find bad beer.

The larger regional breweries - Staropramen,
Gambrinus, Velké Popovice and, of
course, Pilsner Urquell - had national distribution.
Even in a town like Prague, where there were several large local breweries,
there was a good choice of beer from the whole of Czechoslovakia.

Though not as well known as those from Pilsen and Ceské Budejovice, the
Prague beers were of just as high a standard until a few years ago. Unhappily,
this is no longer the case and the ubiquitous Staropramen 10% and
12% pale lagers are rapidly approaching the (low) standard of 'international'
pils beers brewed the world over. The traditional Prague style, as in Munich,
is a dark lager and thankfully, after many years of being difficult to find,
it seems to have become more available of late. It resisted the switch from
top-fermenting longer than other Czech styles and only changed to using
bottom-fermenting yeast at the end of the 1800's. The best example is undoubtedly
that of U Fleku, a beer along the same lines as a Franconian dark kellerbier.
The second best of this style, Braník 12% cerné, which for many years was
the only other to be found in any of the city centre pubs, has been discontinued.
A move which demonstrated Bass's level of commitment to Prague's brewing
traditions. The pubs which used to sell it (and which in some cases still
have signs outside advertising it) now have the much-inferior Mestan 11%
dark.

This
is now
The idiotic way the Czech brewing industry was privatised, when the regional
groupings of the communist era were sold off in job lots, meant all the
local breweries gained a single private owner. In Prague the three large
breweries - Staropramen, Braník and Mestan
- were in a single group, Prazské Pivovary, and had the
same owner. In November 1996, when they increased their shareholding to
51%, that owner was the British firm Bass. When Bass decided
to get out of brewing, the breweries passed to the Belgian multinational
Interbrew.

Interbrew isn't the only international
vulture to have descended on the carcass of the communist brewing industry.
SABMiller - worryingly for anyone
who cares about beer - grabbed almost half of the Czech market when Nomura
got bored of playing brewer. They've shown their respect for Pilsner Urquell's
uniques tradition by brewing it under licence in plants they control in
other countries, such as Poland.

Heineken, through its ownership
of the Austrian group BBAG, now
has a toehold in the Czech Republic. I can't imagine that it will be content
with its current market share of less than 5%. That just isn't the way globalists
operate.

Most of the country's breweries have been hypnotised by all those shiny
new conical fermenters and stainless steel lagering tanks. It's as if there's
a race on to see how quickly they can destroy hundreds of years of tradition.
At the current rate of destruction, they should be just about finished in
5 years time. A few smaller companies are showing more respect, but these
are usually small and only available locally. Herold and
Regent are two of
those sticking with the old techniques and whose beers have a wider distribution.

On a more positive note, many individuals have taken advantage of the new
economic climate and set up microbreweries and brewpubs. These now make
up over 40% of all the breweries in the Czech Republic. Though in terms
of market share they are of negligible importance.

The
Czech brewing industry

At present, the Czech domestic beer market is dominated by
SABMiller, who have a share of over
40%. I expect Heineken and Interbrew
to increase their cut, either through further acquisitions ofr aggressive
marketing. The future looks bleak for many of the smaller, regional breweries
who lack the finances to secure outlets or advertise.

The five largest brewing groups account for around 75% of beer production.
Since the mid-1990's most regional breweries have seen their output fall
- sometimes quite dramatically. Many medium-sized breweries are operating
at less than 50% of their capacity.

At the time of the change in the political system in 1989 there were 71
breweries in the Czech Republic. Of these, 20 have since closed. So far,
the opening of new brewpubs and microbreweries has more than offset the
closures, at least in terms of total numbers. The net number of breweries
has been increasing by around 1.5 per year over the last 10 years.

The current number of active breweries is around 89. The breweries break
down as follows:

Founded in 1993 to represent the interests of smaller breweries. Has around
24 members.

Beer
Drinkers' OrganisationChrám chmele a piva "Cathedral
of Beer and Hops" an organisation deicated to the hops and beer of
Zatec (Saaz).

Czech
Beer ToursLet Libor Vojácek guide you around some of the
Czech Republic´s smaller and more interesting breweries.

Czech
Beer Styles - History

Pilsener and Budweiser
Bohemia is world-famous for its pale lagers, yet these beers to not dominate
the local beer landscape as much as one might imagine. A surprisingly large
number of dark and amber lagers are brewed, too. It should be remembered
that the terms "Pilsener" and "Budweiser" are used as
terms of geographical origin in the Czech Republic, not to designate a style
or a brand.

A tradition of brewing bottom-fermenting porters, similar to those made
in Poland, has almost died out, though a couple of such beers still survive.

Before I tell you about Czech beer styles today, let's take a journey into
the past. I think it will prove most instructive.

Bottom-fementing styles
circa 1900
There is a fascinating chapter in "American Handy Book of Brewing
, Malting and Auxiliary Trades" (Wahl & Henius, Chicago
1902) on Thick Mash Beers in Germany and Austria (P.780-792).
It's the best explanation I've read of early lager styles. It's pretty precise
about the specifications of the beers, even down to the hopping rates. As
the book is designed as a practical manual for berwers, it must bear at
least some resemblance to reality.

I'll paraphrase now what it says about the different types of continental
lager beer:

type

colour

subtype

gravity Balling

hops/ hl

comments

flavour

Bohemian beer:

"light-yellow to greenish-yellow"

Abzug/Schenk

10.5°

300, 350, to 400 g

usually kräusened as Hefenbier - I suppose a sort of
cask-conditioned version. It was kräusened as racked into the trade
package and needed time to settle in the public house before serving.

"the taste is vinous , dry, somewhat sharp; instead
of the malt taste, the bitter taste of the hops predominates."
The kräusened beer didn't need to be kept as cold during lagering

Beer was bunged to increase the amount of dissolved CO2 to that
desired. It usually ocurred immediately before the beer was due
to be sold.

The darker beers were not - as is often the case today - brewed
from a grist of pilsner malt plus a small amount of highly-coloured
malt. Vienna beers were brewed from 100% vienna malt, Munich beers
from 100% dark Münchner malt. The Bohemian beers were - surprise,
surprise - made from 100% pilsner malt.

The principal differences between the types in terms of colour
and degree of attenuation derived from the characteristics of
the different kinds of malt.

Here are some Czech, Viennese and Bavarian beers analysed around this time
(Wahl & Henius, p. 823-830):

Beer

Brewery

Date sampled

Balling Wort

Balling Beer

app.deg. atten.

alc. wt.

alc. vol.

Pilsener (Schenk or Winter Beer)

Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen (Pilsner Urquell)

1886

11.2°

3.56°

68%

2.98%

Lagerbier

Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen

1887

11.72°

3.25°

72%

3.32%

Export

Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen

1888

11.95°

3.55°

70%

3.46%

Export

Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen

1898

13.82°

3.80°

72.5%

4.20%

Lagerbier

Actien-Brauhaus, Pilsen

1887

11.72°

2.75°

77%

3.51%

4.4%

Export

Actien-Brauhaus, Pilsen

1897

12.21°

3.1°

75%

3.82%

4.8%

Lagerbier

Pilsner Urquell, Pilsen

2004

12.0°

3.65°

70%

3.52%

4.4%

Lagerbier

Budweiser (not specified which brewery)

1887

11.34°

2.75°

76%

3.56%

Lagerbier

Budweiser Budvar

2004

12.0°

2.5°

81%

4%

5%

Lagerbier

Dreher, Michelob

1888

13.30°

3.80°

71%

4.11%

Bock

Brünner (Brno - not specified which brewery)

1876

14.63°

4.40°

70%

4.39%

5.5%

Schenk or Winter Beer

Nussdorfer

1876

10.78°

3.75°

65%

2.93%

Lagerbier

Nussdorfer

-

13.18°

3.75°

72%

3.85%

Schenk or Winter Beer

Kleinschwechater

1888/1885

10.13°

3.00°

70%

2.94%

Lagerbier

Schwechater

-

13.25°

4.25°

68%

3.62%

Export

Dreher, Kleinschwechat

1898

13.07°

3.95°

70%

3.83%

Schenk or Winter Beer

Munich (not specified which brewery)

1886

11.92°

4.25°

63%

3.00%

Lagerbier

Löwenbräu, Munich

1888

14.75°

3.55°

76%

3.46%

Export

Löwenbräu, Munich

1901

13.53°

4.13°

69%

3.95%

Lagerbier

Spaten , Munich

1867

13.07°

4.50°

66%

3.23%

Export

Spaten , Munich

1879

13.7°

5.05°

63%

3.74%

4.65%

Bock

Spaten , Munich

-

24°

8.47°

65%

7%

8.73%

Export

Kulmbacher

1885

17.60°

7.55°

57%

4.18%

Export

Kulmbacher

1887

15.30°

4.50°

71%

4.48%

Bock

Kulmbacher Actien

1880

20.24°

6.97°

66%

5.28%

You'll note that the beers run like this in decreasing degree of attenuation
(and increasing colour):
Budweis, Pilsen, Vienna, Munich.

A tantalising - that because I only have an analysis of 1 Budweis beer -
difference is shown between the Pilsen beers the drier one from Budweis.
It's a distinction that is just as true today.

You're
probably wondering (if you haven't already packed up and gone home) why
I have bothered you with all this historical gumph. Because without this
knowledge, modern Czech beer styles won't make a great deal of sense. Unless
- as may well be the case - you're brighter than me.

How can I say this without seeming a total prat? Until a terrifyingly recent
date, I had thought of Czech beer as without beer styles in the classic
sense. They don't call their beers Pils or Münchner or Export; they just
brew 11, 12, 13 and 14° Plato beer either pale, dark or amber. How wrong
could I have been.....

Stumbling across a pre-WW II Czech beer label prompted a rethink. A very
simple label, printed in orangey-brown. In the centre "14%" and
underneath "Märzen". Of course - Czech 14% amber beers were in
the Märzen style! On closer inspection, 13% pale lagers are in the Spezial
style; suddenly these Bohemian beers were fitting in very nicely with the
lagers from Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland.

(As
an illustration I've included the German and Czech versions of the same
beer label. OK, it's a bit strange calling a 10° beer a Märzen, but it confirms
"Březňák" as the Czech translation.)

It's like a physicist stumbling upon an unified field theory - suddenly
the whole universe can be described in one sentence. Or perhaps a 19th century
chemist filling in the grid of the periodic table. Which is exactly what
I'll do now.

The illuminating quality of Czech lagers is not a matter of chance. The
survival of so many of the early lager types in Bohemia make it far easier
to spot patterns. Here's my grid:

Country

8%

10%

11%

12%

13%

14%

15%

16%

18%

Czech Republic

Výčepní

Výčepní

Ležák

Ležák

Speciální

Speciální/Exportní

y

y

y

Výčepní

Výčepní

Ležák

Ležák

Speciální

Speciální/Märzen

y

y

y

Výčepní

Výčepní

Ležák

Ležák

Speciální

Speciální

y

y

y

Bavaria

x

x

Pils

Helles

Spezial

Oktoberfest

x

Bock

Doppelbock

x

x

x

Lagerbier?

Märzen

x

Bock

Doppelbock

x

x

x

Dunkles

märzen/export

x

Bock

Doppelbock

Austria

x

x

Helles/Pils

Märzen

Spezial

x

Bock

x

x

Lager

Bernstein

Granit

Märzen

x

Bock

x

x

Export

Spezial

x

Bock

Doppelbock

Switzerland

x

x

Pils

Helles

Spezial

Starkbier

Bock

x

x

x

Starkbier

Bock

x

x

x

Dunkles

Spezial

Bock

x

I won't insult your intelligence - you can see that far more of the Czech
boxes are occupied. Vienna lagers aren't dead: they've just moved over the
border. No country produces such a range of amber (polotmavé pivo) and dark
lagers (tmavé pivo) as the Czech Republic. I can't quite understand why
no-one has twigged this yet.

You can read more about the History and Brewing methods of Pilsner Urquell
here.

Pale, low-strength lager. In German the name translates as "Helles
Schankbier". Usually highly-attenuated and fairly hoppy. Not lagered
for any great time, such beers are sold 3-4 weeks after mashing. The most
popular style of beer in the Czech Republic.

Polomavé Výčepní Pivo

3-4% (8-10° Plato)

Amber, low-gravity lager. Some breweries call it Řizek or "cut",
meaning a mix of pale and dark. A type of beer which is virtually unknown
outside the Czech Republic.

Tmavé (Černé) Výčepní Pivo

3-4% (8-10° Plato)

Dark, low-gravity lager - "Dunkles Schankbier". Can be either
sweet and malty or quite dry, with an amount of malt bitterness. Pretty
much exclusively a Czech style.

Světlý Ležák

4.4 - 5% (11-12.5° Plato)

The classic Czech pale lager style. The name means the same as "Helles
Lagerbier" in German. Individual beers vary greatly, from sweetish
and malty (like Pilsner Urquell) to dry and hoppy (Budvar). One thing they
all have in common is being heavily hopped with good quality aroma hops
(such as Saaz). Beers in this style should be lagered for 2-3 months before
sale.

Polotmavý ležák

4.4 - 5% (11-12° Plato)

An amber lager, roughly in the Vienna style. Full-bodied, malty and with
those lovely Czech hops much in evidence.

Tmavý (Černý) Ležák

4.4 - 5% (11-12° Plato)

A term that covers a wide range of darker lagers, that vary in colour
from pale brown to jet black. The name translates as "Dunkles Lagerbier"
in German. They vary in taste from sweeter than a Münchner to quite dry.
The Czech Republic is very unusual in that pale lagers preceeded dark ones.
Czech dark beers remained top-fermenting until the 1890's. Beers in this
style should be lagered for 2-3 months before sale.

Světlé Speciální Pivo

5.3 - 5.8% (13-14° Plato)

A heavily-hopped pale lager. Approximates to a South German "Helles
Export" or "Spezial" - a full-bodied beer with a good dose
of quality aroma hops.

Polotmavé Speciální Pivo

5.3 - 6% (13-14° Plato)

An amber lager, roughly in the Märzen style (some breweries still use
that term, or at least the Czech translation "Březnové pivo"). Full-bodied,
malty and with those lovely Czech hops much in evidence.

Tmavé (Černé) Speciální Pivo

5.3 - 5.8% (13-14° Plato)

Strong dark lagers, which don't have many equivalents elsewhere. A Dunkles
Märzen or Dunkles Export, related to Franconian beers of this name. A style
usually only attempted by full-on artisan lager brewers. Full-bodied, malty
and sometimes quite bitter. The U Fleků Ležák is a beautiful example of
this style.

Světlé Speciální Pivo

6 - 7% (15-17° Plato)

Roughly equivalent to a pale bock - powerful and bittersweet.

Polotmavé Speciální Pivo

6 - 7% (15-17° Plato)

Amber bock - malty and bittersweet. Some beers are even called Kozlík
- the Czech for "small goat" or "kid".

Black lagers. Very full-bodied beers, with lots of dark malt flavours
and a good dose of bitterness. Pre- WW II, the standard top-end beer of
Czech breweries. Getting rare.

Top-fermenting Styles
There are a few examples of Bavarian-style wheat beers, which have been
introduced in the last 10 years by some smaller breweries. It's really a
re-introduction of the style, which supposedly originated in Bohemia before
jumping across the border to Bavaria in the 17th century. That aside, the
commercial Czech breweries are effectively 100% bottom-fermenting.

This is an overview of the top-fermenting beers brewed in the Czech Republic:

Style

alc.

description

Pšeničné pivo

5 - 5.5% (12 - 13° Plato)

Top-fermenting wheat beer in the Bavarian style. The unfiltered version
is called "kvasnicové" ("kvas" - like the name of the
Russian beer - means "yeast" in Czech). Only pale varieties appear
to be brewed in the Czech republic. Lightly-hopped, high in carbonation,
and with a characteristic spiciness derived from the special yeast culture.

Altbier

4.2 - 5.3% (10 - 12° Plato)

A copper to pale brown coloured beer, which is fairly
dry and hoppy.

Others

varies

Some micros and brewpubs brew beers in British styles,
such as Bitter, Stout or Porter. Others try their hand at Belgian styles
like Witbier or strong ale.